


Traitor?

by awtuscany



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Betrayal, Body highjacking, Headcanon, Hearts, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Implied/Referenced Torture, Kidnapping, Kingdom Hearts III Spoilers, Luxu has a hard time with understanding time since he's so old, Luxu is a jerk, Manipulative Luxu|Braig|Xigbar, Multi, One Shot, Possession, Post-Kingdom Hearts III, Stubborn Ava, Stubborn Gula, The Power Of Love, The power of friendship, ava is subject x, boy was alone for thousands of years just waiting to start a war, i don't trust him, luxu is the traitor, non consentual bed sharing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-28
Updated: 2019-06-28
Packaged: 2020-05-28 09:16:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19391101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awtuscany/pseuds/awtuscany
Summary: Gula doesn't believe Luxu when he says Ava didn't make it back. Seeing her fall into a corridor of darkness doesn't help.





	Traitor?

It's only after the Foretellers have accepted his story, gotten settled in The Castle That Never Was, and seemingly accepted that they were going to be able to live in this world without the looming threat of a war that would destroy the world did Luxu sneak away. He's had thousands of years to think, plan, and live countless lives leading up to this moment, and nothing was going to take it away from him. The empty, timeless world where he left the biggest secret he's keeping seems even emptier now than it did 11 years ago when he was last here. Inside the house, asleep on the bed is Ava, exactly as he left her all those years ago. It's ridiculous how easy it was to convince the others she hadn't made it back.

As if Ava would ever abandon them, she started a war for them, although, to be fair he baited her into that fight. She would have never swung normally, it's not in her nature, always kind and quick to forgive. Weak. That's what she was, he just never saw it before that moment. Ava was weak if left to her own devices. That's exactly why Luxu wasn't leaving this just up to her. You pick up a few tricks after being alive for thousands of years and if Xehanort could manage to put his heart inside 13 vessels... Well, Luxu getting his inside one wasn't that much of a challenge.

The counterspell comes easily to him, his magic wraps around Ava and she moves. Her short brown hair moves as she sits up and he can't help the smirk that comes across his lips as her eyes open to show golden ones that match his own. A part of him does miss her pink eyes, they were always so soft and beautiful, but gold looks good on her in his biased opinion. He's sure what's left of her heart is screaming in fear and confusion, the part that he hasn't placed so deeply in darkness not even Sora's light could reach it that he's left awake so she can see what he's going to use her to do. She stares at him blankly. He smirks, grabbing her face between his hands.

Oh yes... This was going to be so much fun.

The trip back to The Castle That Never Was is short and sweet, the illusion magic he had Ava cast on herself, to hid her golden eyes, is strong enough that the others shouldn't be able to see through it. If everything goes according to plan than the others would never see it coming when he carried out his plan. The others are still in their rooms when he arrives with what's left of Ava, he can feel the panicked confusion coming off of the part of her heart that's still aware of what's going on. She's been asleep for so long, her memories were once lost to her, and now she's being taken to a place she's never been to before by the man who she thought was saving her. As if. He only took her from the labs so he could use her for his own purpose.

Her memories are back now, he's sure of that, the keyblade war should have returned them. Just like it allowed him to summon back the other foretellers it allowed her memories to be accessible from where they were hidden away. Luxu glances at Ava again, he could just allow her to be seen by the others and get this over with, but there's no fun in that. He didn't wait thousands of years to make this go by quickly, it's a good thing the others are still in their room, Ava's heart so hidden within the piece of his that is inside her that they are unable to feel it's presence. There's something much greater in letting this play out over time, watch them run around confused about what's going on. He has time. The Master won't be back for a while and once he arrives...

Well, Luxu would have already finished by then, if The Master was expecting this he didn't take any steps to avoid it. Well, he did, but Gula's pitiful attempts to find the traitor were nothing when no one was even considering the missing piece. They assumed the traitor was among the five of them, a fatal mistake that will cost them their lives twice. It's easy enough to send away Ava, she raises her keyblade and opens the lanes between, walking off to lay in wait. Luxu would start the game and the others wouldn't even realize they were playing until things were too late.

"Luxu," Invi says as she enters into the room, mere moments after Luxu sent Ava off, had she walked in any sooner the game would have been over before it started.

"Invi," he answers, the smirk on his face isn't out of place but it's not there for the reasons she thinks.

"I went by your room earlier but you weren't there."

"Stepped out," Luxu replies. "Used to being able to come and go as I please at this point."

"Interesting," Gula says as he steps in the room. Luxu can feel the glare he's receiving even if he can't see it. Out of everyone, Gula is the one who still doesn't trust him. It's most likely because of Ava's assumed absence that Gula is so cold.

"That happens when you spend years wandering," Luxu says with a shrug, his one golden eye trained on Gula. "Not like I've had anyone to answer to or anything to do aside from observing things for a long time."

"What's to happen now," Ira asks, coming into the room.

"The Master will return," Luxu answers. "It'll be some time before he makes it back to us, but he's coming back to us. There are a few things we do need to get done until he gets here, little things mostly, shouldn't take up too much time."

Luxu does take note that Aced isn't in the room yet, he should wait, it's not as much fun if he doesn't set them all out at once. Only one of them will run into Ava, he already knows which one he wants it to be, but that's not important, what's important is making sure they're all together when he gives them the missions. Not that what he's giving them are actual missions, no these are just time killers so that he can unveil his perfect ending. Not the ending that The Master has been working towards and not the ending that Ava would have liked, but an ending. Of course, if he left things up to Ava she would probably still have just come back, even after what he told her on the hill, even after watching the horrors that befell her dandelions, she'd come back. Not for The Master, she'd probably never listen to him again, but for the other. She's always been weak like that. She never did have the stomach for some of the things that Luxu knew were necessary.

It makes sense to Luxu that she got the easy task out of the two of them, she got to fly away to this world with the dandelions, her memories of the past wiped away, a blank slate to live a happy full life, and Luxu? Luxu had to live countless lives none of them really his to live, always chasing after what The Master wanted, always chasing the completion of his role. Well, his role is complete and now... Now The Master is going to wish that he had chosen differently. Ava's role was so important and these idiots don't even know it. They don't even know that the only reason they are here now is because of the hard work Ava put into the dandelions. Everything she did she did to make sure the world would persist, every keyblade wielder she plucked from a different union, every fight she avoided, every unexplained action. It all leads up to Ava completing her role and she did it perfectly.

If things were swapped around if Ava was in his position and he was in Ava's? Well... Ava never was good at the 'icky jobs' as Axel would have put it.

Aced enters the room, Luxu grins, "Now that the gang's all here we can get to work on those missions. Like I said we have some things we need to do before The Master can come back." A lie. The Master will come back on his own time. "So... Here's what we need to do."

The fake missions he gives them are easy, take out heartless, find certain items, scout out new worlds, nothing they can't handle, things they would have had their unions do for them back in the day. Ah, how the tables have turned. He watches with a smirk as Gula walks through his portal to his mission. Ah, this is going to be so much fun.

As soon as all of them are gone he walks through a corridor of darkness, he wants a front row seat to the fallout that's coming. He finds Ava easy enough, she's exactly where he told her to wait, not like she has many choices in the matter. A part of his heart has eclipsed hers, aside from the sliver he's allowed awareness of the situation she's little more than a puppet. He chuckles, thinking of Xion, the puppet of Organization XIII, poor Ava is even worse off than that. Even Terra had it better than she does. At least Xehanort attempted to complete overtake him, Luxu isn't even trying, he's purposely allowing her a shred of awareness. Time for Ava to do the 'icky jobs.'

He makes her cast an illusion over him, rendering him invisible if everything goes as planned, and there's no reason it shouldn't Gula should be coming into this very clearing in just a few moments. There he is, he's chasing down a heartless, Luxu doesn't even bother taking note of what kind, but as soon as he cuts it down he notices Ava. Luxu can imagine the look of shock that his leopard mask is hiding as he rushes to her. She takes a step back which causes him to pause.

"Ava," he asks.

She stares blankly at him but Luxu can feel her heart fighting against the folds of sleep and darkness that entrap it. She wants out, she wants to talk to Gula, she wants Luxu out of her heart. Luxu pushes her heart down into the darkness and watches as her light is momentarily smothered out, he lets up before she's completely lost, that would be no fun. He turns his attention back to Gula, he's standing, just a few feet away from Ava, his hand outstretched to her.

"Ava is that you," he asks, taking a hesitant step forward. "Luxu said you didn't make it back."

She remains silent before tilting her head ever so slightly. Gula takes another hesitant step forward, she takes a step back. He pauses.

"We can go see the others if you like," Gula tries, speaking soft and slow. "I can take you back with me. The Master is coming back soon Ava. I know how much you wanted him to come back, how much we both wanted him to come back. Things can be different this time Ava, there's no war this time Ava. We can be whatever we want to be."

Luxu feels like laughing, oh this is too rich. Ava blinks, staring at him without a shred of emotion or understanding. Her heart, deep in its dark sleep, struggles weakly, it's too weak to try and escape now, eleven years of magic keep it chained down, trapped where it cannot escape. Even if she was able to escape she'd still have to fight off the part of Luxu's heart that's currently piloting her body, a feat her heart would not be able to accomplish in its current state.

"...Gula...?" The puppet Ava asks, her voice creaky and horse, what could Luxu expect after so many years without use. The dark corridor opens under her, the fake panic that crosses her face as she pretends to struggle against it is very convincing. She might have even been able to convince Luxu if it wasn't for the fact he's the one doing the acting, or his heart fragment is. "Help me!"

Gula for what it's worth tries, he really does, but even he's not fast enough to pluck Ava's body from the corridor of darkness Luxu is using to move it to a new location. He's left, trembling, kneeling at the spot where Ava disappeared into the ground. He removes his mask and it's easy for Luxu to see why, the tears that fall from his eyes, the distraught face he's making could rival the one Luxu saw on Sora's face that day in the keyblade graveyard.

Luxu leaves through his own corridor of darkness, going right to where he's sent Ava's body. He pats it on the back and the slings his arm across its shoulders, his heart fragment makes her face contort into a smile that seems too wide to not be painful. He can feel the pulse of fear and hate that flows through Ava's actual heart, and he rolls his eye.

"Come on now Ava," he says, ruffling her hair. "It's emotions like that, that cause people to fall to darkness, and if you fall in any deeper there won't be anything left of you around to watch the show."

Ava's heart settles, maybe she's scared of being lost in darkness or maybe she's holding out hope that the others will find a way to free her, either way, Luxu doesn't care. The others don't know she's alive, except for Gula, and Luxu's going to do everything he can to undermine what Gula saw. He leaves her there, a spell putting her back to sleep, for the time being, can't risk her heart finding the strength to break free.

He arrives back at the castle after everyone else, careful to enter his room using the dark corridor, he can't have them knowing what he's really been up to. He walks out of his room casually, in the grey room the others are crowded around Gula, who's sitting with his head in his hands on one of the chairs.

"I saw her," Gula says, his voice barely over a whisper. "She... She didn't seem okay and then she fell into darkness crying for me to help her."

"What are you talking about," Luxu drawls.

"Gula believes he saw Ava falling into darkness," Invi answers.

"Not possible," Luxu says with a yawn. "She didn't make it back, you all saw, she wasn't there with us in the graveyard. There's no other way she would have been able to get to this time. After all, she died in the first keyblade war just like the rest of you."

All lies. There's more than one way to get to this time, Ventus and the other lost dandelions are proof enough of this. She didn't die in the graveyard, the Ava they saw was an illusion, part of The Master's plan, Ava had to go with the dandelions, and she couldn't do that if she was fighting in a war to destroy all worlds at the very same time. Luckily Ava's illusions make it easy enough for her to be in two places at once and none of the foretellers actually got a chance to see Ava's body after her death. They were already dead themselves. Ava came to this world, 11 years ago, and she may have been able to live a happy, normal life except for the fact she landed right in the middle of Xehanort's time at Radiant Gardens.

Getting Ava away from there was easy and when she disappeared Xehanort automatically assumed it was Ansem's doing which only pushed him farther towards banishing the old fool. As far as Xehanort was concerned Braig and Xigbar were both little more than pawns who would do anything he said for the promise of a keyblade. Look where that got them. Xigbar, Luxu, whatever, still here and Xehanort's heart rejoined with Kingdom Hearts like all hearts do in time, except Luxu's and, if Luxu has his way, except Ava's. Ava's heart which is wrapped up nicely in the darkness and overpowering presence that is his heart. He can feel it, fighting to wake up, fighting to get free, but it's much too weak for either of those things.

"But I saw her," Gula insists.

"You saw what you wanted to see," Luxu replies. "I think I sent you out too soon, you should all get some rest, and don't go chasing after ghosts next time Gula."

They all exchange looks but sure enough head out of the room, except for Gula who stays seated on the chair, his mask is back on but Luxu knows he's glaring at him. It's a glare Luxu knows all too well, the one Ventus mimics perfectly. Luxu isn't sure how Ventus was able to get Gula's death glare when the boy never saw the master's face but stranger things have happened to Luxu than just an apprentice managing to pick up their master's facial expressions despite not being able to see their face. Besides Ventus always was one who seemed to constantly do the improbable, maybe not impossible but still difficult to do. That's a trait Sora, Roxas, and Xion all manage to share as well. Well... Maybe it did stray more into the impossible with those three. Regardless, Gula is glaring him down.

"What," Luxu asks innocently, or as innocently as Luxu can manage. He's never been the innocent one, he's always been the one who got caught pulling pranks or sneaking out of the tower or slacking off at training. But Ava was always the one who would cover for him. Quick to come to his defense and aid, quick to do what she thought was right. Ava was the innocent one once. Not so much anymore.

"I don't believe you," Gula says through gritted teeth, he's doing his best to keep his emotions in control, he's never been the expressive one, that too was Ava. "She's out there I know it."

"Believe what you want, Ava's gone. She's not coming back. She completed her mission, she knew the risks, she took them, and she's gone. There's no coming back from what happened to her."

'I made sure of that,' Luxu thinks with a smirk. Yes, Ava's heart is lost deep in a maze of darkness and sleep, to even begin to unlock it you would first have to server the connections she has with Luxu and the fragment of his heart inside her. That in itself would be near impossible, having to fight her to her very limit but without killing her. There's very little that can bring her back now.

"I'm going to get her back."

"From death without her agreeing? Unlikely. Time to face the facts, if you like it or not Ava's gone, she's lost because of the war and she's not coming back. Own up to your mistakes, you failed your role and Ava paid the price."

That's not even a lie. Gula could have stopped this if he managed to find out that Luxu was the traitor all along. Ava's fate is in Luxu's hand and Luxu's not kind, that was also Ava. Ava was always so much, so many things. A bright beacon of light and the one chosen by The Master to carry hope. How far she's fallen into darkness, her heart eclipsed. Gula leaves the room quietly, maybe Luxu finally hit the right buttons to shut him up. The thought makes him want to laugh, sure Gula isn't the chattiest of the foretellers but Luxu hates his voice. Ava's voice... Her's he could listen to all day and she is a bit of a chatterbox, or at least she was. Her heart is still fighting, even now. Luxu takes a moment to look around, he has to be sure that the others are gone, once he is he opens the dark corridor.

Ava's hidden in the labs, none of the others are going to come down here, there's too much dark energy left over from Vexen's experiments. He's grateful for that, the dark energy will keep even curious Gula from coming down here.

She's asleep on a cot, it would be easy to wake her up, a simple spell and the body would be awake, his heart fragment would do whatever it decided to do or whatever he told it to do. This isn't the time for that. He's tired, that's something he forgot about, he still needs to rest or he won't be able to keep this up. He crawls into the cot, wrapping his arms around Ava's body, it's still as warm as it ever is, Luxu almost expected it to be cold.

"Night Ava," he says sarcastically.

He wakes the next morning with Ava's body pinned between his and the wall, the counter spell to wake her leaves his lips before he even gets out of bed. The illusion is still up, pink eyes stare sightlessly at him. Luxu yawns as he gets out of bed, Ava's body follows, he doesn't need to say what's next, she just opens a portal and heads through without a word. Good. He drops into his bedroom using a dark corridor, can't let the others see him walking up from the labs, they'd ask too many questions. He walks, whistling as he goes to where the others are, they're around the table, eating what little food Xigbar-Braig-Luxu... Luxu remembered to get. He'll have to have one of them get more while he sends the other three off on bogus missions.

"So... You ate what little food I had," Luxu complains.

"This place is not fit for living in," Aced complains.

"Says you. I lived here for eleven years and I'm fine."

"Debatable," Gula says irritatedly.

"Someone's in a bad mood," Luxu taunts.

"I can't imagine why."

The air is tense, Aced places a hand on Gula's shoulder but he shrugs it off, the irritation coming off of him is palatable.

"Careful Gula," Luxu says, "It's emotions like that, that cause people to fall to darkness. How about you take it easy today, here." Luxu hands him some munny. "Take this and get some food for here and get yourself something to, but lose the outfit, you'll stick out like a sore thumb."

Gula snatches the munny from Luxu and stalks off. Silence settles around the table as Luxu helps himself to what's left of Gula's food. He gets a few stares, it's not like Gula's going to finish it and besides having Gula do the food shopping is the safest bet. The other three are disasters when it comes to food, normally only Luxu, Gula, and Ava have any idea what's going on in the kitchen. Sending Invi would have her come back with too many fresh fruits and vegetables, more than can be eaten before they go bad, and no proteins. Sending Aced would result in more meat than they'd be able to use and maybe a bag of frozen vegetables if he remembers. Ira would bring back nothing but premade, frozen food. Leaving shopping to Gula is the best idea. That leaves the others, he was planning on tormenting Gula some more today but he can't do that if he wants there to be any food in this forsaken castle. The missions are given out and his former friends head off, Luxu does a quick check around the castle to be sure that Gula has left before opening the corridor of darkness and heading out himself.

Today Invi is gathering simple items that Luxu really has no need for but it's something to keep the four foretellers busy. Invi is almost done with her task, The Caribean is a large, sprawling world with very little land, so the little island Luxu picked for this is perfect. It's lifeless, it's in the middle of nowhere, there's no logical reason for Invi to see Ava here. But fuck logic in Luxu's opinion, you live a couple of centuries and that's the first thing to go, nothing seems logical after it all starts to blur together. Did that thing happen last year or last century? Where did he leave that damned box? Oh... That's right he found that it's at the castle, who the fuck knows what's actually inside it. Hope the old man had said, well... The only hope there's been in this world is Ava and her dandelions and look how well that's turning out.

Invi has just retrieved the item when Ava stumbles out from behind a rock formation, Luxu sits on top of it, invisible thanks to Ava's magic, doing this to Invi is riskier than with Gula. She's more aware of magic than the other foretellers except for Ava. Luxu is betting on the fact Ava's sudden appearance will be enough to keep her from sensing the magic.

"Ava," Invi asks, shock and horror evident in her voice. Luxu can't blame her. The bruises that paint Ava's face and other exposed skin isn't an illusion. Her torn clothes and matted hair isn't an illusion. Although it did take Luxu a good portion of the time he was waiting for Invi to get here to make Ava look like that, his hands still sting.

"I-Invi," Luxu's heart fragment stutters out, sounding unsure and scared. Ava's pitiful face and wide innocent pink eyes help sell it.

"Gula was right," Invi says rushing over to Ava. Ava flinches back, Invi slows her pace, holding her hands out in front of her, being careful to not make direct eye contact. "I'm not going to hurt you, Ava, I want to help."

Ava's heart burns bright against the darkness holding her hostage, Luxu almost growls as he summons more darkness to drown it out. Ava's heart is putting up more of a fight than he was expecting. He needs to get her out of here quicker than he would like before she-

"Help me Invi," Ava says, and it is Ava, not Luxu's heart piloting Ava's body. "I-I can't hold on much longer... You need to..."

Luxu pours every ounce of willpower that he can into the fragment of his heart inside Ava, willing sleep and darkness to consume her light once again. Ava screams, clutching one hand to her heart as she falls down, the corridor of darkness opens below her as she falls. Invi tries to use magic to catch her but it's much too late for that, Ava's once again taken far away from the people who could help her. Luxu retreats as soon as Ava is through the corridor of darkness, as much as he'd like to stick around to see what happens next he has more important issues to deal with. Namely, Ava.

She's already reclaimed by sleep when he reaches her, he couldn't risk bringing her back to the castle, too much risk that she'd somehow still manage to break herself out even in her sleep. Clearly, he didn't do this right, well, that's fine, he's got all day to perfect it. He wakes her up just to hear her screams.

He comes back later than he was expecting, the sound of Ava's screams still echoing around in his head like some kind of sick song that he can't get enough of. He almost doesn't realize what he's walked into, almost. The foretellers are sitting together, closer than he's seen them since before Ira revealed there was a dark Chirithy, Luxu's Chirithy, sneaking around, and a traitor most likely on the lose. He can see they're closer in more ways than just physically, the connections they have to each other burn brightly, their differences set aside for the time being at least.

"What did I miss," Luxu asks casually.

"Invi saw Ava," Ira says. "First Gula and now Invi. We're going to search for her tomorrow."

"I knew I was right," Gula says, he's sitting next to Aced, Aced has his hand on the younger foreteller's shoulder. "I knew I saw Ava."

"You can waste your time looking for ghosts. I have my own things to do."

"This is hardly a ghost," Invi says. "Ava is out there and she needs our help. She's being hurt by someone or something and we are not going to allow her to keep getting hurt."

"If the Master really is coming back he's going to want all of us," Aced says, an excuse to explain why he cares. "We need to at least look into this."

"There's only seven of us if you count the master," Ira says. "We need all seven."

The unspoken, we've come this far together we aren't giving up on her now is clear to Luxu. He's not sure if this is what he wanted or even expected from them but it is exciting.

"Well, I'm not going to waste my time with all that. Have fun!"

"Do you just not care," Gula demands in his own way. "Weren't you two friends? Wouldn't you want her to look for you?"

"I'm not going to waste my time looking for someone who can't be found. Ava's dead. I've accepted it. We have time before The Master returns if you want to spend that time looking for a dead woman who am I to stop you."

Luxu walks away, into the hallway and into a corridor of darkness. Ava's sitting perfectly still on the chair in the abandoned house where he left her. She doesn't even move when he pats her head.

"They want to come looking for you? Fine," Luxu says running his fingers through Ava's short hair. "Let's give them a chase they won't soon forget."

Ava's heart protests but it's a weak protest, only just noticeable. Luxu smiles, she's still awake in there, he hadn't managed to completely destroy her after all. He wasn't sure at first when her screams died down and her heart stopped responding. Luxu should have known better, of course, kind and stubborn Ava is still hanging in there.

"Come on darling," Luxu taunts. "Let's go give our friends a show."

It's easy enough to stalk the foretellers, who seem to be working in a group instead of splitting up their resources. Perhaps they think it'll be easier to catch Ava when the find her if they work together instead of splitting up. They aren't exactly wrong. It'll be harder for Luxu to get Ava in and out if all of them are paying attention and are together. They start out in the Caribean, where Invi saw Ava, but there's no sign of her except a small amount of dried blood let on a rock.

"Chasing a ghost," Gula mimics. "Ghosts don't leave blood behind."

"We'll find her," Aced assures him. "And we'll find out why Luxu is acting so strangely."

"We should try seeing if anyone in this time has seen her," Ira suggests. "We might get farther if we can at least confirm that she is in this time."

"Is the blood not enough evidence for you," Invi asks.

"As good as that is the blood could be from anyone," Ira replies. "We need to start asking people..."

"Luxu said if we go around in our masks and robes we'll stick out like sore thumbs," Gula says, he's sitting, ironically, in the same spot Luxu was before. "We should find some other clothes to change into before we try anything drastic."

They head into Twilight Town, Luxu notices almost immediately that Gula is using the munny he gave him to go grocery shopping to buy themselves clothes. The group gets a number of looks until they change into their new clothing. Aced, Gula and Ira all settle for casual pants. Invi goes with a long skirt. Gula and Invi have button up shirts while Aced and Gula are wearing jackets over whatever they are wearing as shirts. They look much more like a group of friends and less like people to be worried about. Ira buys himself a sketchbook and sketches a picture of Ava. It's a good likeness, although Luxu isn't sure when Ira of all people took up drawing. He hands the picture off to Gula to hold on to as they start towards the edge of town where they can open the lanes between without being seen. Gula takes this time to show the drawing to everyone who will talk to him.

"Have you see this woman," Gula asks.

"Never seen her," the person replies. "Sorry."

Gula nods in understanding and asks the next person, the other foretellers going slow to allow him to ask everyone who will listen to him.

"Please, she's missing and we think she might be in trouble," Gula says at one point to a kid who looks familiar but Luxu isn't sure he knows them.

"I've never seen her," the girl says. "We can ask my friends if you want to. Maybe they have. They've seen more than I have."

Gula looks to the others who nod, and they follow after the girl as she heads to the ice cream stand in town. Luxu almost curses aloud. Of course, this girl would be friends with Saix and Axel and their ilk. Roxas looks at them suspiciously as they come over, Xion smiles at them.

"Hello," Invi greets softly, "We're looking for a friend... Could you take a look at this drawing?"

Gula hands the paper to Roxas who shakes his head before passing it to two boys about his age, who then pass the paper to Xion. Xion also shakes her head before passing it over to Saix, who gasps aloud.

"It's that girl!"

"What," Axel demands, snatching the paper out of Saix's hands. He looks over it carefully. "Yeah, that's the girl alright."

"You've seen her," Gula asks.

"A long time ago," Saix answers. "Who are you that you're looking for her?" There's an edge of protectiveness to his tone. Aced laughs.

"That's just like Ava," he says. "Making protective friends. We're her friends."

"Why are you only now looking for her," Axel demands. "She's been missing for like 11 years."

If that news shocks the group they do a good job of hiding it.

"We weren't able to look for her before," Invi answers, fidgetting slightly as she does. "We were only recently..."

"Recompleted," Axel fills in the word for her, it's not what she was going to say but it works.

"Yes," Ira says. "We were lost for a very long time and this is the first chance we've had to go looking for her. Her name's Ava."

"She... Didn't know anything about herself when we knew her," Axel admits. "She was locked up by Ansem the Wise in Radiant Garden. We don't know why."

"We attempted to save her but by the time we go there she was gone," Saix says. "We've been looking for any information on her ever since. We didn't even know her name until now."

"Is this Ansem the Wise still at Radiant Gardens," Invi asks.

"Yes, but we've asked him before and he says he has no idea what happened to her."

"We'd still like to talk to him," Invi says, she nods her head politely to the group. "Thank you, if we find her we'll try to let you know."

"I'm Lea," Axel says. "And this is Isa. The kids are Roxas, Xion, Ollette, Hayner, and Pence. It's a lot but got it memorized?"

"I believe so," Invi says. "I'm Invi. This is Aced, Ira, and Gula. We'll let you know if we can find Ava."

"And you," Gula says, looking to Roxas. "Look a lot like a young man Ava and I used to teach."

"Are you keyblade wielders," Xion asks, her eyes narrowed.

"What?"

"The only person who looks like Roxas is Ven and Ven's only real teaching has been in the keyblade."

"So... He managed to make it out alright," Gula says fondly. "Yes. We're keyblade wielders. We just want to find our friend."

"Us too," Roxas admits. "He's been missing since... Well, I'm sure you know all about the war. We just want to know if he's alive."

"I wish we could help," Invi says. "But we're trying to find out what happened to Ava. If we get any information on your friend while we're looking we'll tell you."

"His name is Sora," Xion says. "I hope you find your friend."

"We hope you find yours," Ira says. "Thank you for all your help."

Luxu knows it won't be long now until they get suspicious he knows more than he's letting on about Ava, but still, he follows, from a safe distance, with Ava tagging along. Her heart, even still, calls out for the others, but it's a weak call that Luxu can easily silence with just a little pressure. It's been a long time since he's been to Radiant Gardens but he follows his old friends there. He watches in amusement as they are allowed access into the castle.

"We just want to know what you know about our missing friend," Gula says, he's sitting on the table. "She's missing and we think she's out there in danger."

"She was here years ago," Ansem the old coot answers. "My students were running experiments on her to try and recover her memories. When she came to us her only memory was the vague one of having four friends and something to do with a key. My students wanted to push even further into her heart to see what memories they could unlock. I forbade them and she disappeared suddenly. I do not know what happened to her after that."

"No one has any idea what happened to her," Invi asks. "Not a single person?"

"Not everyone who worked with me was trustworthy," Ansem answers. "As far as I know someone could have taken her away without us realizing."

"...Thank you for your assistance," Invi says before the group heads out. She's frowning, her soft light purple hair falls into her face as she lowers her head. Luxu feels like laughing, so they managed to figure out Ava had been in this time but they're no closer to finding her than they were.

"What are we going to do now," Gula asks. "We know she was here and Invi and I both saw her."

"Ava was alive when we saw her," Invi says, "But I can't feel her heart anywhere, I keep reaching out, hoping it will respond but there's nothing."

"Perhaps she's lost her heart," Ira says solemnly. "It would explain why we're unable to find her heart."

"She seemed like she still had her heart," Gula argues. "She was panicking as the darkness swallowed her."

"How is it," Aced asks slowly. "That she managed to escape whatever darkness is holding her twice. Perhaps this is all a ploy."

"If you're insinuating that Ava is the traitor, then you should rethink that stance," Gula says, glaring angrily at Aced. "If she was why would she have saved me from you during our fight?"

"It would have been in her best interest to allow Gula to perish," Invi agrees. "We'd have one less light to work with."

"Arguing isn't going to get us answers," Ira interrupts. "We need to find Ava and ask her what she knows... I'm not sure I trust the story Luxu has given us."

"I think Luxu knows more than he's telling us," Gula says. "I don't trust him."

Currently, they're sitting together in a clearing in Corona, the same world where Ava first appeared to Gula. Luxu knows this isn't by accident, they are trying to find Ava, of course, they are going to return to where someone last saw her. An idea forms in his head, time to make things more interesting. Ava's illusion magic has always been strong, strong enough to trick others into thinking they are somewhere totally different when they really haven't left the room they are in. Ava herself is strong, even know Luxu remembers how badly beaten he was when they fought on top of that hill. She doesn't seem strong because she tries to avoid fighting, one of the reasons The Master chose her for the Dandelion role. She had to be able to both protect the dandelions and test them to be sure they were strong enough to survive. After spending so much time in Ava's heart Luxu knows just how much she's been holding back. She's stronger than she lets on.

The illusion Luxu has Ava cast is one of her weaker ones, simply allowing a copy of herself to be seen in another place than she actually is, it's the very same illusion spell she used during the keyblade war to complete her role. The illusion springs to life in front of them, appearing as if a ghost and the foretellers jump to their feet.

"Wait," Invi says. "That's not Ava... It's one of her illusions."

"Are you sure," Gula asks.

The illusion Ava looks perfectly like her, it even seems solid based on the way the light hits it, causing it to cast a shadow on the ground.

"I'm sure," Invi says. "I can feel the magic holding it together."

"Did she send you," Gula asks the illusion.

"She did," the illusion answers. "She's fighting a losing battle. She ventured too far and learned a truth too horrible."

"A truth," Aced asks.

"About the traitor," the illusion answers. "Find her in the fated land where all things ended and began. Find her and the truth." The illusion flickers. "She doesn't have much time left." Another flicker. "Soon they'll be nothing left and the truth will be lost."

The illusion flickers again and fades. Gula stands, his keyblade in hand.

"You know where we have to go," he says, a stubborn glint in his eyes.

"The graveyard," Invi replies. "Let's go."

"Wait... What if Ava had the illusion lie," Aced asks. "What if she-"

"You didn't see her," Invi cuts him off. "I did. Whatever's happened to her, she's not faking it."

Luxu wants to laugh, oh Ava's not faking being in danger, she is in danger. But the heart piloting around her body is not her own. Her heart's light shines weakly from its prison, she won't survive in all that darkness much longer. Her struggles are weaker now, her protests barely whisper in the back of Luxu's mind.

'Please stop,' Ava's heart pleads weakly. 'Luxu, please don't hurt them. It's not their fault...'

Luxu doesn't answer her, instead, he pushes more magic against her heart. It pulses weakly, it's light trying to drive off Luxu's, but there's little it can do. Luxu's heart is already able to control her body, she's nothing but an observer at this point.

"Come on doll," he says as he opens a dark corridor. "Everything's going to be over soon. The game's almost done."

The two walk through the corridor, arriving back at the crossroad where everything starts and ends. Ava stands right in the middle of the crossroads, the illusion on her keeps her golden eyes covered under a layer of magic. Her body is bruised and the white gown she's wearing is torn and stained in dried blood. The others appear down one of the crossroads, Gula's eyes light up at the sight of her.

"Ava!!"

Gula starts to run towards her but Invi grabs his arm stopping him in his tracks, her soft blue eyes are narrowed as she stares down Ava.

"That's not Ava," she says softly. Her keyblade is in her hands, her eyes narrowed. "You drop the illusion now."

The illusion drops, the bruises and bloodstains on her dress stays but her pink eyes turn gold, she smirks at them, a look they'd never expect on Ava's face.

"You always were the perceptive one Invi," Luxu says as he allows the spell hiding him to drop. "But you aren't completely right. This is Ava's body, the rest of her though... That's a different story. You could even say I've stolen her heart."

"You knew she was in this time," Ira questions.

"I didn't just know, I'm the one who took her away from Radiant Gardens. They were trying to force her memories back into her and I couldn't allow that. She'd remember what I told her up on the hill and try to strike me down again."

"Was what that illusion told us even the truth," Invi questions.

"Oh, it was. Ava really did learn the truth about the traitor, that's why she tried to strike me down. Ava tried to do your job for you Gula, and look where it got her."

Realization crosses Gula's face and his keyblade is in his hands before he can think about what he's about to do.

"You're the traitor," Gula says, it's not an accusation.

"Got it," Luxu says with a laugh. "I did a pretty good job at it too. You were so busy looking at each other you didn't even think to question the missing party. Ava though... She wanted answers and she set off to find them. She was looking for the master but she found me instead. Did you ever wonder why the lost page was so vague about everything? It's because it wasn't talking about one person, it was talking about two."

"What," Ira demands.

"The traitor and the one who starts the war," Luxu answers. "The traitor was me but Ava was the one who started the war. Not that she was trying to. She was trying to strike down the traitor but our battle rung the bell that signaled the upcoming war. Even if she won the world was doomed. She's a lot more powerful than she lets on, I actually didn't win that battle, I only barely managed to escape."

"Something tells me that you're not just telling us this to get it all off your chest," Gula says.

"None of you are making it out of here alive," Luxu says with a smirk, summoning his keyblade. "There's no saving you."

"Do you really think you can take on the four of us alone," Aced asks.

"I'm not alone," Luxu says, as Ava summons her keyblade. It's not the same as they remember it, most of the white is gone replaced with black and the pink has turned a horrible brown-red, like dried blood. There's a crack running through it, starting at the top and splitting the keyblade nearly perfectly down the middle, the crack stopping right above the hilt of the keyblade. A keyblade is the reflection of someone's heart... What's happened to Ava to leave hers in such a state. "Ava's right here with me."

"Ava please," Gula says, his keyblade shaking slightly. "Can you hear me? Are you still in there?"

'I'm here,' Ava's heart responds. Luxu growls at the response and pushes Ava's heart further into the darkness, the crack on her keyblade grows a little wider as he does.

Ava moves quickly, disappearing as she does, and suddenly she's behind Ira. He doesn't have time to block. Her keyblade slashes against his back. Aced's keyblade is in his hand, he rushes Ava. Ava's keyblade blocks his blow. Almost immediately there are illusions of Ava all around the Foretellers. The illusion Ava's split them up and Luxu rushes into battle. His keyblade strikes Gula in the side while Gula's busy blocking an attack from one of the illusions. Gula spins. His keyblade slashes Luxu. The illusions flicker and a pained gasp sounds through the area.

A blast of darkness flies at Invi and she dodges out of the way. An illusion swings its keyblade at her and she blocks. A second illusion comes from behind and slashes her across her back. She cries out in pain. She doesn't have a second to recover as two more illusions and Ava herself charges in. Invi summons a wall of water to block them and jumps away.

Aced shatters an illusion. A second and a third illusion charge in while a fourth sends a blast of darkness towards him. Aced blocks the magic blasts. Two identical keyblades clashes across his back. They feel real, the pain they cause is real, and the wounds they cause are real as well.

Ira isn't fairing much better. The sheer number of the illusions makes it harder for him to defend himself and when he strikes one illusion down, two more seem to take its place.

Luxu and Gula are locked in combat, the illusions and Ava leaving the two to fight it out. Gula's keyblade hits Luxu's side. It happens again. The illusions flicker and for a moment Invi sees Ava. Her keyblade flashes back to normal, the crack still there but the colors back to how they should be. At that moment Invi knows what needs to be done.

"Ira! Aced! Go help Gula! Target Luxu, I'll take care of Ava," Invi calls as she summons a wall of fire to clear a path to Gula and Luxu.

"Are you sure," Ira asks worriedly.

"Yes! Go!"

The two rush to Gula's side and Invi places a barrier around the fight, that should keep Ava and her illusions out long enough for them to take down Luxu. With no one else to target the illusions and Ava rush Invi. Invi calls a blast of air to push them back, taking a page from Gula's book she rushes in and strikes Ava while she's distracted, and then Invi hurries back out of reach. She sends ice and water crashing down on Ava and the illusions, taking out as many illusions at once as she can. She just has to keep them distracted until Luxu is taken care of... As long as Invi is correct in her assumption than after Luxu is taken down Ava shouldn't be a problem anymore.

With Aced and Ira's help, the battle with Luxu is less taxing. Aced and Ira fight up close, making Luxu have to find a way to dodge or block one blow without getting hit by a second coming. It's even harder with Gula darting in and out of the fight, slashing Luxu with his keyblade and the rushing out to give Aced and Ira a chance to attack.

Ava's heart is also fighting back, screaming and attempting to tear itself from the hold of the darkness that Luxu is pressing into it. It's keeping his focus out of the fight, allowing the three foretellers a better chance to take him down. A keyblade, Luxu isn't sure who's, hits him across the chest, and someone else's hits his back. He blocks a third keyblade and manages to dodge out of the way of yet another attack.

Invi blasts an illusion that's gotten to close with ice, she isn't trying to win this battle, she's just trying to hold out until Luxu is defeated. There are too many illusions for her to win on her own, even if she wanted to she wouldn't be able to.

'Who knew Ava could maintain so many copies,' Invi thinks bitterly as she cuts down another one. 'Luxu seemed to have known... He said he only barely made it out of that battle alive. This isn't Ava, not really, but it is her body... I have to minimize the damage I do to it.'

"Ava," Invi calls desperately as she blasts another copy. "I promise we'll save you."

'Invi,' Ava's heart calls, forlorn and desperate. It's weak again. Luxu can only assume it tired itself out with all the fighting it was attempting to do. Ava's light flickers, like a candle one slight breeze away from snuffing out. If he pushes just a little further she'll be lost into darkness, her light extinguished. Without having to constantly monitor Ava's heart the battle is easier, he jumps out of the way of an attack from Ira and blocks an attack from Aced as soon as he lands.

Invi dodges an attack from Ava and barely manages to block an attack from one of the copies. She hits Ava with her keyblade and Ava comes back with a counterattack, hitting Invi in the stomach. Two copies attack Invi at the same time, Invi's too slow to dodge or block after the hit on her stomach. They catch her in her arm and her back.

"Cura," she calls, feeling the magic wrap around her as it heals the worst of her wounds. The slit in Ava's keyblade seems wider than it was when the battle started and Invi feels a stab of worry in her heart. "How much longer can you last Ava?"

'...help...me,' Ava's heart responds, barely a whisper. It takes Luxu off guard, the soft and fragileness of what's left of Ava's heart calling out to the friends who cannot hear her pleads.

Gula's keyblade strikes Luxu in the chest and he falls to his knees. Ava goes still, the gold drains from her eyes and she collapses like a puppet who's had their strings cut. The illusions fade out as Luxu clutches his keyblade.

He chuckles.

"Huh," he says softly as he stares at Gula. "Looks like you finally managed to complete your role. Congratulations! You've struck down the traitor..." Luxu looks over to Ava a smug look on his face as he does. "But at what cost."

"Why," Gula asks. "Why Ava? Why betray us?!"

"It was... My role... What happened with Ava... Well, that was just a bonus. You can thank our Master when you see him," Luxu says with a smirk. "I only brought you all back so I could kill you and get back at the old man. I don't even know if he'll actually come back... That's your problem now." Luxu takes a final breath and his body shatters, his heart rises into the air and disappears.

Gula rushes over to Ava, she's in a heap on the dry, cracked ground of the graveyard. Carefully he cradles her in his arms.

"Ava," he says as the others gather around him. "Ava please wake up!" He shakes her insistently.

Her eyes flutter open, her eyes are pink again and Invi sighs in relief, "I was right, defeating Luxu banished him from her heart."

"...Thank you..." Ava says softly her voice sounds pained. "...Tried to fight him... 'M sorry..."

"It wasn't your fault," Ira tells her gently. "You'll be okay now. We're going to take you somewhere safe."

"...M' tired," Ava says quietly, burying her face into Gula's shirt.

"Try to stay awake," Gula pleads. "You're going to be okay." Tears stream down his face and land on Ava's. "Invi! Invi, she's going to be okay right?"

"We need to move her somewhere safe," Invi says instead of answering. "Aced... Get the Lanes open."

"Where are we taking her," Aced asks summoning his keyblade.

"Not back to that castle," Ira says with a frown. "I don't trust it."

"Twilight Town," Invi answers immediately. "We'll see if those two we meet earlier will let us stay until Ava's healed."

"You're going to be alright Ava," Gula insists, cradling her close to him. "Invi's going to heal you and you'll be okay."

"...Gula...Love you..." Ava whispers as she clutches at his arm. Her nails digging into his skin. If it hurts he doesn't let on, he just kisses her forehead and nods to the others. Aced opens the lanes between and Gula smiles softly at Ava.

"I love you too, please hold on."

Twilight Town is quiet when they arrive, perhaps everyone one is asleep and it occurs to Gula they don't know where Isa and Lea live. He looks to Invi with worry and she smiles sadly at him, "She's not going to make it Gula."

"N-no," Gula stutters out, holding Ava closer to him as he does. "She'll be fine. She just needs to be healed."

"You know you can feel it too," Ira says. "Her heart is bleeding away."

"All we can do is make her last moments peaceful," Invi says softly looking towards the clock tower in the center of twilight town. "She always did love the view from our clock tower."

"...Gula," Ava's says, her voice strained and so quiet. "...Gula... Invi's right... 'M not gonna make it..."

"No," Gula says, a determined glint in his eyes. "We've lost too much and I'm not losing Ava too. There has to be a way to save her."

Gula's heart pulses inside his chest and he can feel it reaching out to Ava's heart, Ava's heart shines weakly in response. It feels like he's falling suddenly, falling and falling until he lands on a platform, it shines white and a part of it is broken away and another part of it is being slowly consumed by darkness. Confused he looks up and sees... Himself. Asleep in his foreteller gear, his mask off, circles filled by Invi, Aced, Ira, The Master and Ava surrounding him.

"Gula."

He whirls around, Ava's standing right in front of him, her pink eyes missing that light that always shined behind them. She looks... exhausted.

"Why are you in my heart Gula?"

"I'm not going to lose you."

"I'm not going to survive," Ava says softly. "My heart is being consumed by darkness and it's slowly bleeding away, one of them is going to kill me."

"I refuse to believe that you've given up! You've always been the one I trusted Ava, the one I knew who would do the right thing. I'm not going to let you destroy yourself."

"Gula..."

He rushes to her, pulling her in a tight hug, she stiffens as he hugs her. There's a flash of light from above and below and suddenly Gula's back in his body, blinking.

"What did you do," Invi asks, eyes wide.

"I... I don't know."

"Whatever you did, Ava's heart seems stable now," Invi says and Gula sighs in relief.

"Gula," Ava's voice is still quiet but much stronger than it was before. "You're so stubborn."

"We still need a safe place to stay," Ira says. "Perhaps we should look for those people from before. Invi did promise to tell them if we found Ava."

Aced laughs as Gula kisses Ava's forehead again, Invi says something but Gula isn't paying attention, he's busy looking over Ava's face, the soft content smile, her pink eyes, her short soft light brown hair. Aced's hand on his shoulder pulls him out fo his thoughts.

"I can carry her if you like," Aced offers. "We don't know how long it'll take to find their home."

"I can carry her," Gula says stubbornly.

"I'm tired," Ava says suddenly. She yawns and shifts slightly in Gula's arms. "I love you."

"I love you too."

"Huh," says, approaching them from behind. "I wasn't expecting to see you all so soon."

Isa's walking next to him, their hands are just barely touching. The Foretellers turn, Ava's eyes light up.

"Lea? Isa?"

"Wow! Looks like you actually managed to find her," Lea says amazed. "It's Ava right?"

Ava nods, "Sorry... I'm still weak from what happened. I guess having someone else's heart inside you isn't really good for your health in the long term."

Isa and Lea both stiffen at those words.

"So... Xehanort did manage to get to you?"

"Oh it's a long story," Ava says with a laugh. She sounds better by the second and Gula's heart soars.

"We... Actually, don't have anywhere to go," Invi says. "Would it be alright for us to stay with you until we figure something else out."

"Yeah but I want to hear that story," Lea says casually. "So I hope you're ready to tell it."

"I hope you're ready to hear it," Ava counters and yawns.

"Bed first," Gula says. "You can tell us all what happened after."

Ava nods and her eyes flutter shut. The group goes quiet as they follow Lea and Isa towards their home, the past left behind them on the fated land.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this instead of sleeping and instead of properly dealing with my emotions. Ummm... Shit happened in my personal life and it's currently keeping me from being able to focus on the happier 'For Those We Masters have Wronged,' so I wrote this. As soon as I'm feeling better I'll have that work updated. This is a one-shot but I may post a sadder ending at some point depending on how I'm feeling.


End file.
